Significance of WomenIn the blink of an eye everything can change. In areas of the lower Niger, Okonkwo, the main character of Chinua Achebe's novel, Things Fall Apart, experiences this sudden change. Okonkwo lives in a village Umuofia, where men are seen to be superior to women. Okonkwo is banished from his village and seven years later when he comes back he is disappointed to see his manly village turn, “soft like women” (183). Throughout the novel Ibo women can be seen as mistreated because of the way they are treated and talked about. For example, Ibo men believe the worst insult someone can receive is being called a woman. To vague readers Achebe’s novel could seem sexist towards men, but a deeper reader will notice that women are equivalent to men. Achebe represents Ibo women to be equal to men by their prominent roles in motherhood, traditions, and religion. Women in Ibo society must love, care, and educate their child. At night, Okonkwo’s wives and children get together for story time, where the women read to their children. After the nightly routine of story telling Achebe shows the significant role of a mother by writing, “Low voices, broken now and again by singing, reached Okonkwo from his wives’ huts as each woman and her children told folk stories” (96). This scenario illustrates how men hand off the importance of educating their children to women. Okonkwo likes to be in charge, but when it comes to educating, feeding, and caring for his children he trusts his wives enough to fulfill those everyday responsibilities. Later in the novel, when Okonkwo is exiled after mistakenly killing a boy in the village by a misfire, he goes to Mbanta. Mbanta is his motherland. Okonkwo seeks sympathy and understanding so he goes to a place he knows he’ll be welcome. In fact, when he arrives in Mbanta his uncle, Uchendu explains to Okonkwo not to grieve about coming to his motherland by explaining, “When a father beats his child, it seeks sympathy in its...

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...Women in Chinua Achebe’s ThingsFallApart
“ThingsFallApart” by Chinua Achebe, portrays the Ibo society of Africa before the arrival of the white man. The novel depicts the Ibo culture and religion while Achebe weaves the Ibo language, myths and ideas into the English world and approach. It familiarizes the reader with the Ibo society as it also explains the role of women in pre-colonial Africa.
The role of women in the Ibo society:
Achebe shows how the patriarchal structure has been entrenched in the Ibo culture and only represents how it exists; people must evaluate the woman’s status themselves
Women have little to no power-cannot stand against the husband’s mistreatment
“And when [Ojiugo] returned he beat her very heavily. In his anger he had forgotten that it was the Week of Peace…It was unheard of to beat somebody during the sacred week” (Okonkwo severely beats his beats his wife due to a conflict of minor significance. (Not being home during dinner). The only reason he is punished is because it is the week of peace.
No social power: “Without looking at the man Okonkwo had said: “This meeting is for men.” The man who had contradicted him had no titles. That is why he called him a woman” (26).
Women are not allowed to do beyond what they are told. (Social repression)
Patriarchy:
“’The...

...Women: The Mothers of Umuofia
In ThingsFallApart, Chinua Achebe describes a rich culture that is remarkably civilized, with customs and values that place considerable emphasis on justice and fairness. Even with such principles, Igbo culture functions as a predominantly masculine society, run by men, where women were assigned little authority. Wives were to be seen, but not heard; they were to have little influence on their male-dominated civilization. Yet between the lines, Achebe sheds light on the true power and dependence Umuofia has on feminine culture, and the effect femininity has on Okonkwo. Although he describes Umuofia as a very masculine and patriarchal culture, Achebe draws attention to the feminine side of society to stress not only femininity’s importance and fundamentality in Umuofia, but because of its omnipotent presence and women’s involvement in virtually every aspect of Igbo life from law to religion.
Okonkwo lived in a constant state of fear; the fear of being thought weak, incapable, and most importantly woman-like. He took much pride in his manhood, and would do next to anything to preserve it. When at the burial of the elder Ezeudu, Okonkwo could do nothing but watch as manhood, reputation, and life’s work was ripped to shreds right before his eyes:
“It was a crime against the earth goddess to kill a clansman, and a man who committed it must flee from the land....

...An image that comes of African women is usually a faceless and a voiceless being. There is always a tendency to look at them more or less than a slave. Chinua Achebe’s post-colonial novel, ThingsFallApart, do at some points of the novel support the case of the subjugated African women in the course of Okonkwo’s life through the practice of polygamy, paying bride price, and the atypical case of Okonkwo beating his wives at slight frustration. In Okonkwo’s eyes, women are mere property and the ones that keep a man sane. But, it is also through Okonkwo, we see women – mothers (Ekwefi), wives (Ojiugo), daughters (Ezinma), priestesses (Chielo, Ezeani) and goddesses (Ani) – who are revered and whose stature in the culture is paradoxical in the very idea of the marginalized and dutiful female that Okonkwo tries to rationalize. Achebe illustrates how at times, an Igbo woman is in the background, but at other times, they’re in the forefront and they are not painted as inferior, instead they are an essential partner to the male and they are equal and at some occasions superior to the male.
Women in different roles play most vital functions in society. Though they are seen as weakness, it is ironic that they are the refuge for everyone. Ekwefi’s and Ezinma’s mother to child relationship confirms this. When Okonkwo forbids Ekwefi to leave her hut after Ezinma is carried...

...Women today play major roles in society, but were it like that 100 years ago? Was it like everywhere around the world? In thingsfallapart by Chinua Achebe shows us that even though women in Umofia don’t play a big role, they are key part of everyday Igbo Society life.
Women in igbo society are a small group with no power who were to be mothers, stay home and had no respect from the male figure.
Women played the role of a typical house wife and always stayed at home and were not always heard of or were to be seen. The authority of women didn’t show much in the culture. One of the wives of Okonkwo who represents this is Ekwefi; second wife, and forced to stay home, life filled with sadness and with terrible luck with keeping a child. Giving birth to ten and only one surviving who is a girl, though she keeps a strong relationship with Ezinma. Devoting her life to Ezinma and treating her life a presius gift. Achebe describes Ekwefi as a higly devoted mother.
We see that in the book as a role of a woman is to listen to the man of the house and to not ask questions but to just listen to what they demanded to do. early in the story, when Okonkwo brings Ikemefuna into his house, Okonkwo tells his wife that Ikemefuna belongs to their tribe and that she is responsible for him and to look after him. She asks him if he will be staying with...

...Chinua Achebe’s novel ThingsFallApart sold more than twelve million copies and has been translated into more than fifty different languages. Born in Nigeria in 1930, Achebe plays a central role in the history of postcolonial African literature. This novel centers on a cultural clash between native African culture and the traditional white culture of missionaries (Achebe 60). Richard Begam is the author of “Achebe’s Sense of Ending: History and Tragedy in ThingsFallApart” and discusses the importance of how Okonkwo’s suicide leaves the reader with the belief that Okonkwo dies an honorable tribe member despite the crimes he committed. Dr. Mohamed Fawzy El-Dessouky, the author of “The Cultural Impact upon Human Struggle for Social Existence in novel ThingsFallApart” is describing how tradition in the Ibo tribe should not be forgotten using Okonkwo. This is the main argument throughout the novel and should not be overlooked. Eric Sipyinyu Njeng in “Achebe's Work, Postcoloniality, and Human Rights” expresses how Achebe’s use of gender roles is significant to the Ibo’s culture and to say it’s not who you are, but how you act. All three of these authors stress the importance of the Ibo’s culture traditions and gender roles in Achebe’s novel ThingsFallApart.
Richard Begam the author of “Achebe’s Sense of...

...How could the text be read and interpreted differently by two different readers?
ThingsFallApart
Language and Literature
Thingsfallapart is a novel written by Chinua Achebe. It is set during the late 19th, early 20th century in a small village named Umuofia situated in Nigeria. This time period is important because it was a period in colonial history when the British were increasing their influence economic, cultural, and political influence in Africa. The novel deals with the rise and fall of Okonkwo, a man from the village of Umuofia. It also explains the effect of the appearance of the British on the Igbo society in terms of the destruction of social connections. In this text, there are several passages in which their interpretations could be different from each other and passages in which their interpretations could be rather similar by two different readers. The following paragraphs will focus on analyzing the possible interpretations of a Nigerian reader from the Igbo society and a British reader by using three passages of the novel.
The first citation is found in chapter 5. In this citation, Chinua Achebe talks about the way the Nigerian society respond when they’re called by their name, by saying «is that me? » (Achebe 41) because that was the way people answered calls from outside. Chinua adds that «they never answered yes for fear it might be an evil...

...The Role and Status of Women
When reading Segu and ThingsFallApart, the role of women is a major part of each novel. Their roles are alike in some ways but at the same time they have some slight differences. In Achebe’s text, women do not seem to be of much importance in their day to day life, but they are crucial to the spiritual wellness of their culture. In Conde’s text though, thewomen are much more respected by the people in their tribe.
The level of reverence for women differs greatly in each novel. In ThingsFallApart, women were often abused for anything they may have done wrong. For example, Okonkwo beat his second wife twice, once because she was late returning home and had not yet prepared his meal. He was then only punished because it was the week of peace (Achebe 24). The second time was when he thought she killed his banana tree and she had told him she just cut a few leaves from it to wrap food. “Without further argument Okonkwo gave her a sound beating” (Achebe 33). From this you obtain a strong sense that women were not very well respected among the Ibo tribe. On the contrary in Segu, men would turn to their wives for comfort. When Dousika was dismissed from the king’s council he just wanted to feel loved. “Then he heard Nya’s footsteps in the entrance to...

...Chinua Achebe’s ThingsFallApart is a story that describes the effects of a new Christian religion in a tribal village of Africa, called Umuofia. The novel is set during the late 1800s to early 1900s when the British were expanding their influence in Africa, economically, culturally, religiously, and politically. The book shows the colonization of Umuofia by the British and the negative and violent changes this brought about in the lives of the tribe members. Along with colonization was the arrival of the missionaries whose main aim was to spread the message of Christianity and to convert people to their religion. The conversion to Christianity of tribal peoples destroyed an intricate and traditional age-old way of life in the village. This is best seen in the rise and fall of the protagonist, Okonkwo, who could be understood to represent the best and worst of his culture. Eventually, Okonkwo can be seen as the symbol of the disintegration. Through the tragedy of Okonkow, one can see that that a failure to adapt to a changing society, can cause even the strongest and proudest of men to fallapart when it appears to them that everything around them is falling apart to. ThingsFallApart is a tireless tale of human’s nature’s ultimate struggle with evolution**
” The general vision of this this novel is how the cohesiveness and...